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Environmental complianceLesson 6 of 6

Inventory of Hazardous Materials: Hong Kong Convention and EU SRR

You will be able to tell which list an item belongs in, keep Part I of the IHM valid through every repair, and know which certificate your ship needs where.

15 minutes · For signed-up learners, free · Rules checked 20 October 2026

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The Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships entered into force on 26 June 2025, sixteen years after it was adopted, with 24 Parties covering 57.15% of world shipping by tonnage.5 From that date every new ship under the Convention needs a verified Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) and an International Certificate on Inventory of Hazardous Materials; existing ships have until 26 June 2030, or until they go for recycling if that is sooner.16 DNV estimated in 2023 that about 30,000 ships already held an IHM certificate or EU statement of compliance and roughly 23,000 more would need one.6

For most ships the hard part is not the first survey but the years after it. Part I of the IHM has to follow every pump, cable run, gasket and coating that comes on or off the ship. Under the Convention, the certificate stops being valid if Part I is not properly maintained and updated.3 This lesson shows what goes in each part of the inventory, how existing ships build one, and how to keep it alive.

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The rest of this lesson, the interactive Which part of the IHM? and the quiz are open to signed-up learners. It's free, takes a minute, and opens every lesson in all 14 courses.

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In this lesson

  • Try it: Which part of the IHM?
  • In plain words
  • In detail
  • What the rules say
  • Flag and class notes
  • Key numbers
  • What inspectors find
  • Questions people ask
  • Quiz: 6 questions

Sources

  1. 1 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, 2009 (SR/CONF/45), annex regulation 5, Inventory of Hazardous Materials, paragraphs 1 to 4. Copy published by the NUS Centre for International Law. https://cil.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2009-Hong-Kong-International-Convention-Annex-Appendix-1.pdf
  2. 2 Hong Kong Convention (SR/CONF/45), annex regulation 10, Surveys, paragraph 1. https://cil.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2009-Hong-Kong-International-Convention-Annex-Appendix-1.pdf
  3. 3 Hong Kong Convention (SR/CONF/45), annex regulation 11.1, Issuance and endorsement of certificates, and regulation 14, Duration and validity of the certificates, paragraphs 1 to 5. https://cil.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2009-Hong-Kong-International-Convention-Annex-Appendix-1.pdf
  4. 4 IMO Resolution MEPC.379(80), 2023 Guidelines for the development of the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (adopted 7 July 2023), preamble and annex sections 2, 3, 4.1 to 4.7, 5.2, 6 and 7, and appendix 1 (tables A and B). https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/OurWork/Environment/Documents/RES.MEPC.379(80)%20IHM.pdf
  5. 5 IMO Press Briefing, Hong Kong Convention entry into force, 26 June 2025. https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/Hong-Kong-Convention-entry-into-force.aspx
  6. 6 DNV, Hong Kong Recycling Convention ratified, entering into force in 2025 (technical news, 3 July 2023). https://www.dnv.com/news/hong-kong-recycling-convention-ratified-entering-into-force-in-2025-245173
  7. 7 Regulation (EU) No 1257/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on ship recycling, Articles 2, 5, 12 and 32 and Annexes I and II. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32013R1257
  8. 8 EMSA, Best practice guidance on the Inventory of Hazardous Materials (28 October 2016, updated 5 June 2018). https://emsa.europa.eu/publications/item/2874-emsa-s-best-practice-guidance-on-the-inventory-of-hazardous-materials.html

Free awareness training. Al Safwan Marine is not an approved training provider, so no certificate is given, and these courses are not a qualification. They don't replace STCW training, manufacturer training or the certification technicians need for this work. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.

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